


plastic flowers

by karvallian



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: College AU, Fluff, Jeremy and Jake are room-mates, M/M, Mainly Jeremy/Michael, Older AU, Side of Brook/Chloe and Jake/Rich, boyf riends — Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-07 17:19:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12237288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karvallian/pseuds/karvallian
Summary: It's their first year at college, and Jake and Jeremy are dorm-mates, still in New Jersey while all of their other friends leave to go on to better things. They miss their high school pals, and before Jeremy can even blink, everyone is coming back to New Jersey for a visit before they have to go back to school in a couple weeks. Though, he does wonder whether or not the one person he misses the most will come back to visit him.





	1. rich took their pepsi

**Author's Note:**

> i hvanet written anything in so long so im sorry this is kinda bad,,,,, leave comments/suggestions pls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rich is on break from school for a bit, and he makes the best of it by going to visit Jake and Jeremy really early in the morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ii aparently dont know how to write..

It's barely even seven in the morning yet, and here Jeremy was, waking up and getting ready for another day of college. As he sits up to turn off the kesha song blaring from his phone as his alarm, he hears the fridge opening from the small kitchen/living room in his dorm. Standing, Jeremy throws on presentable-looking clothes and makes his way out of his room and down the hall. Just before he reached the corner, he called out,

"Jake why in the actual hell are you up this early, you don't even have any classes today-" As he entered the room, he realized that not only was Jake awake on a Friday morning before noon, but there was another man in their kitchen. He was facing the fridge, looking inside it, and Jeremy stared, confused as to why a stranger was just in their dorm and Jake wasn't doing anything. Unless-

"Hey! Why don't you guys have any caprisuns?" Jeremy could name that lisp anywhere.

"Rich?" The man at the fridge spun around swiftly, his smile widening when his eyes landed on Jeremy. Rich darted from the fridge across the tiled floor to grab Jeremy in a bone-crushing hug, lifting him and spinning him a bit. "I thought you were in, like, New York!"

"I was," He put Jeremy down, grinning as he put his hands on his hips and tilted his chin up, "but I'm off for the next couple of weeks, so I decided to drive down here and visit you losers!" Rich exclaimed, running a hand through his now pure-blonde hair.

"I haven't seen you since graduation, dude," Jeremy replies, watching as Jake smiles and hugs Rich, 

"Yeah, little man, you gotta visit more often-" Rich cut Jake off hastily,

"Speaking of visiting! There's someone else coming back for a bit while we're on winter break. Well, more like two people- Or three? I have no idea." Jake and Jeremy tilt their heads at Rich,

"Who?" Jeremy asks, and Rich just smirks and goes back to the fridge, taking a Pepsi and going to the door.

"Uh, where are you staying while you're here?" Jake asks as Rich turns the knob,

"I'm actually gonna stay with my brother. He lives in an apartment a few blocks down, he moved in a few weeks back." The dorm-mates nod in understanding, "See ya!" Rich winks before leaving them alone in their shared mini-kitchen.

"Welp, considering it's still a good five hours until I'm supposed to be up, I'm gonna head back to sleep. Have fun in class, man." Jake shuffled away in his Pac-Man slippers that Michael had bought for him for Christmas last year when they were still in high school.

Jeremy wondered, for a second, how Michael was doing in California. Whether he missed him as much as Jeremy did. Or if he forgot about him as fast as he did in junior year-

"Hey, spacey! School, remember? Ten minutes?" Jake yells from where he stands, just before the door to his bedroom. Jeremy blinks, heading to the bathroom to continue getting ready. Surely it was a strange surprise, it was nice to see Rich again, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Though it had cost them a perfectly good Pepsi.

A few hours later, as Jeremy took the small break between his classes, his phone began buzzing in his pocket. When he pulled it out, he saw that Christine was calling him. Answering the call, he put the phone to his ear.

"Where is Rich!" She yelled, making Jeremy flinch at how loud she was. "I went to drop some of his favorite chocolates from this place in the city, and he wasn't at his apartment! His roommate said he was in New Jersey. Jeremiah Heere do you know anything about this?"

"Hi, Christine." Jeremy answered tentatively, "Actually, Rich stopped by me and Jake's dorm this morn-"

"So Rich did go to New Jersey?" Christine inhaled heavily, and let out a long breath. "I knew he had something planned. He was talking about 'going home for the holidays', but I didn't think he meant good old New Jersey!"

"Well, he said he was staying with his brother." He heard Christine talking to someone else, and then she continued speaking to him. 

"Alright, well, I gotta go back to class now, we're acting out the bird scene!" Jeremy paused, not really knowing what that could possibly mean, and Christine laughed. "Have fun in New Jersey! I'll see you later, alligator!"

"Bye." He said as the call ended, and he shoved his phone back in his pocket, making his way to class. Jeremy wondered if Christine was going to appear in their apartment early in the morning, too.

At the end of the day, around the time in which it came to start cooking the ramen noodles for dinner, Jeremy stood filling the pot with water and putting it on the stovetop to boil, while Jake, finally done with his essay, moved on to complete the rest of his homework. Jeremy walked the short distance from the stove to the door of the dorm room and opened it to peer into the hallway, squinting down the hall at where the last door was slightly ajar.

"Jerm, where are you going?" Jake asked from where he was at the small desk, sipping his coffee. 

"I'm trying to see if Conner left yet, I need my copy of Napoleon Dynamite back." Jeremy disappeared into the hallway, leaving their door open, and heading to where Conner and his roommate stayed a few doors down. Just as Jeremy went into the other dorm, on the other side of the hall, a familiar face was at the top of the stairs and heading to where Rich had said Jeremy and Jake were staying. Before Jeremy could make it back to his dorm, though, they had already left to go back downstairs, telling Jake that they had to meet someone at a little coffee shop at the corner.

"Crap, the noodles!" Jeremy exclaimed as he came in, attending to his Ramen as Jake sat back down at his desk and continued his work as if nothing had happened.

And then began Holiday break at the dormitories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u liked it!!!!!!! my tumblr is @karvallian oops


	2. the one where they watch friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that all of the guys are back together after high school, the only sensible thing is to watch Friends and talk about everything that happened over the years. Though it would help if Jeremy could stop thinking about how toned Michael's arms are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so ooo i wrote another chapter what that is...... so weird..............

To mark the start of a long break from school, Jake pulled out a bottle of his favorite beer from the hidden mini-fridge, letting Jeremy have a sip before chugging it down. Down the hall Jeremy could hear shouting, signaling that the first party of the break had begun. He stood up and put Jake and his bowls in the sink before heading to his room to get his phone, which was charging for the last hour or so. Though, when he walked in, there was a suitcase just before his bed, and he almost screamed when he saw it.

"Jake!" Jeremy called from the hallway to where Jake sat on the couch, "Jakey D!" 

"Whassup, J?" He turned his head to look at Jeremy,

"There is. A suitcase, by my bed. Is the dorm possessed again, I thought we got one of those holy crosses to prevent this from happening!" Jeremy was hysterical,

"Hey, don't bash my pink cross, also, that isn't a demon, it's Michael's suitcase," Jake responded, offended by Jeremy's insult on the baby pink cross they got at the dollar store after watching BuzzFeed unsolved too late and thinking their microwave was possessed. Jeremy had no reaction at first, scrolling through his missed notifications,

"Wait, Michael Mell?" He asked, and Jake nodded as if this were normal. As if Michael flying in from California was just an everyday thing. "And you didn't tell me earlier because..?"

"Well, he stopped in just before you got back from haggling Connor for that stupid movie." Jeremy sat down next to Jake on the couch after grabbing a Pepsi. He saw that he had a missed call from Rich and Christine. Frowning in confusion, he called Christine back first. When she didn't answer, he called Rich instead, who also didn't pick up. Shrugging, Jeremy tossed his phone onto the table and watched Home Alone with Jake for the remainder of the night.

At around eleven, Jeremy's phone began buzzing frantically. He picked it up and saw that Rich was spamming him with texts. Jake was on his third beer, basically passed out, and Jeremy read the messages.

Richy Rich: ya home, homie

Richy Rich: ur prob home, where else would heere be on a fri nite

Richy Rich: well christine got pissed i left without her and she's driving down tm mornin lol

Richy Rich: and guess wat!!

Richy Rich: i ran into mikey and his bud at sev eleve, pull up

Richy Rich: plot twist were comin to ur dorm. pls dont be asleep loser

The last text was at 10:57, and it was 11:02 now. And that was when Jeremy heard a knock at the door, and he paused whatever Christmas movie was on and went to the door. He really had to get Jake into some of his movies.

When Jeremy answered the door, Rich pushed past him, a bottle of whiskey in hand. 

"Jakey D lets crack this baby open and get fucked up-" Rich's eyes landed on Jake, who had fallen asleep hugging the empty bottle he had finished a few minutes ago. "Damn, he got a head start. It's only 11, what is he doing asleep?"

"You messed up his schedule. He lost an hour of sleep cause of you." Jeremy commented, turning back to the door where Michael stood. "Michael!"

"Whats up, dude?" Michael grabbed Jeremy in a bear hug, crushing his organs in a tight grip. "I haven't seen you in so long!"

"How's Cali treating you, loser?" Jeremy asked when Michael let go of him, making Michael smile and go into how many cool people are there and how fun it was. After a few minutes, he stopped and grinned even wider. "But it definitely isn't as great as it is here in New Jersey with Jeremiah Heere!" Michael walked past him, and Jeremy's face turned red.

The four of them ended up sitting on the two small couches, watching Friends and talking about how school was. Jake had awoken at some point, moved, and then dozed off, leaning his head on Rich's shoulder. Jeremy and Michael sat on the other couch, facing Rich and Jake. And Jeremy couldn't handle how Michael's thigh was touching his, and how his new glasses were even more adorable than his last pair, and how his hair got longer and he had more muscles than the last time he saw him. But he stayed silent about all the little things he noticed and sat completely still, panicking as he remembered the reasons why he missed Michael so much the last few months.

"Man, I've missed you guys," Rich said at one point, after his third or fourth shot of whiskey. "We need to meet up more often."

"It's only been, like, 5 months dude." Michael comments and Jeremy just continues watching the episode of Friends currently playing. "Plus, we're gonna have more breaks throughout the year, which means more time to hang out. Though, you guys are coming to California next."

"I'll die in that heat, bro." The conversation continued with Michael talking about how he could have sworn he saw Leonardo Di Caprio at a Starbucks in Hollywood, and how Rich got attacked by a deer while hiking with his class.

Within the next few hours, Rich and Jake shifted so that they were both laying on the couch, Jake's legs bundled up and his arms around Rich, and had fallen asleep shortly after. When the last episode of the season ended, Jeremy stood and got them both a blanket while Michael turned off the t.v. and cleaned up the beer bottles properly.

"I'm gonna get changed," Jeremy said, going towards his room after everything was semi-neat in the living room. Micheal had been sitting on the couch, not really paying attention to what was going on and scrolling his phone. After a few moments, He stood up and headed into Jeremy's bedroom to get his suitcase so he could put sweatpants on. 

Michael should really learn to listen better, considering he just walked in on his best friend shirtless, going through his drawers. Sure, Michael had seen Jeremy shirtless before, but-

"Jeremiah Heere, is that a tattoo?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!


	3. cool in college

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy and Michael talk about how things did not go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> iimmm dying this is such a boring filler chapter but enjoy

Jeremy turned to face Michael, who stood at the doorway staring at him. 

"Uh, yeah." Jeremy turned his back to Michael so he could fully see the tattoo that reached across most of Jeremy's back.

It was a large, colorful drawing of the title screen from Apocolypse of the Damned, extremely accurate and precise. The game they used to play in high school, where they spent their nights trying to beat as many levels as possible, and eventually finishing it the summer before senior year.

"Well, you see, Jake and I made a bet and... To make a long story short, whoever lost had to get a tattoo that covered their entire back. The good part was that I was allowed to choose, though it hurt like hell." Michael stood, his eyes scanning Jeremy's entire back before he moved closer. "And now that it's like, permanent, I kinda wished I picked something a bit less... Intense, but in my defense, I was piss-drunk."

"This is so fucking cool, Jer." He said, reaching out to poke the eye of the main character.

"Hey, quit pokin' at my back," Jeremy said, twisting back around and smiling at Michael, who was now only a few inches taller than him. "Also why are you following me."

"I wanted to change my pantaloons." They laughed for a bit before Jeremy put a shirt on and Michael went to his suitcase in search of his Pokemon joggers. Jeremy tried to focus on answering the missed messages on his phone, which had been in his room charging since Rich and Michael arrived.

Christiiiiiiiiine: Yo! I'm driving down in the morning, and I'm gonna crash with Rich while we're all there.

Christiiiiiiiiine: Rich just told me Michael was home???!!!?????????? Jeremiah did you know of this?????????

Christiiiiiiiiine: Okay since you don't know how to answer your phone Rich texted me and told me you guys are all together in your dorm. He said he thinks your phone is charging somewhere.

Christiiiiiiiiine: Alright I'll stop spamming you loser, see you soon!

Jeremy sighed, typing a quick apology before putting his phone down.

"Christine is coming home, too." He said, and Michael chuckled.

"Of course." They both went silent for a moment before Michael spoke up again, "Also, since when were Rich and Jake in love?"

"What do you mean? They dated senior year, didn't they?" Jeremy replied, sitting on the bed, Michael following and flopping onto the bed beside him.

"Well, they broke it off a month or so before graduation cause they knew they wouldn't see each other a lot in college, but I don't think they ever stopped liking each other." Michael elaborated, and Jeremy nodded understandingly.

"We all thought we were gonna go to school together, but now everyone's like, across the globe! Chloe's in Paris studying fashion, Brooke's backpacking across Europe, you and Jenna are on the other side of America, and Rich and Christine are in New York, which I guess is close but," Jeremy paused for a second, running his hands through his hair. "it's just that we always thought we would be together in college."

"Yeah, but... Things happen, I guess. We went different directions. Some people want to leave, go as far as they can, and some people want to stay home. Or sometimes we get different scholarships and different careers." Michael reached out and put an arm around Jeremy, shaking him a bit. "And it's not like we're never gonna see each other again, man! We've got our whole lives ahead of us."

"Alright, alright, I get it." Jeremy grinned, leaning into Michael's shoulder. "I'm tired as hell, dude."

"Yo I literally took a long-ass plane ride to get here, and you're the tired one?" Michael joked, and he scooted across the bed so they could lay on their backs like they did in Michaels old room, and look at the blank ceiling. Normally, there would be sticky glow stars across the bare white paint, but Jake was very against ever having them in the dorm because when he had them as a kid one fell on his eye while he was sleeping, giving him the slightly impaired eyesight in his left eye forever.

But aside from that, they laid there looking up in silence for a couple minutes before they began talking about everything they've done the past few months, how many times they wished the other was there, like when Michael met a girl named PJ at college and she played most of the new games with him that Jeremy couldn't. Or when Jeremy wanted to go to a concert with Michael because they both loved the band, but he was too far. After an hour or so, the two fell asleep.

In the morning, Jeremy and Michael were awoken by the sound of Green Day playing at full volume, accompanied by very loud- and bad- singers. Michael practically fell off the bed when Say Goodbye started, especially when he realized that he had ended up practically laying on top of Jeremy, his arm around Jeremy's stomach and Jeremy's arm around him.

"What in the actual living fuck is going on." Jeremy murmured, sitting up and holding his head in his hands. He glanced at the clock, noticing that it was barely past noon. Groaning, he stood up and looked over at Michael, who was sitting on the edge of the bed with his hand over his heart. Apparently, Jeremy hadn't noticed that they were practically cuddling, because he was acting as if nothing had even happened. Michael got up and followed Jeremy down the hall, to where a rather intense display was occurring. 

Rich stood atop their sad excuse of a coffee table, a spoon in hand as he sang along to the lyrics, and Jake, a few feet away making lunch, also sang along, though his voice was a bit more pleasant than Rich's. Jeremy could hear people down the hall singing along as well, and other people were also playing loud music and celebrating their freedom. Just as Rich and Jake finished a song, Rich jumping from the table and going down to his knees as he sang his heart out, they heard someone knock at the door and turn the knob.

"I could hear you doofuses from across the street, holy macaroni," Christine exclaimed, grinning at the sight of all her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhhhhhhhhh yUUUPP THERE IT IS. THE ENDIng is bascially jjust my mood cause i hate skool so im kinda just tryin to lighten my mood by listening to punk rock and making mac n cheese


	4. the diner is basically ihop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> never play monopoly with your friends, and make sure to pay attention when cooking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> immmm so tired take it...

"Christine!" Rich yelled, running over to her. The others followed suit, and soon all five of them were in a group hug, laughing and jumping around.

"What's up guys!" She said, patting down her dress and giggling a bit. "I've missed you all" 

"How's the Big City, kid?" Jake asked, leaning his arm on Christine's shoulder. After the whole Squip incident, Christine and Jake, though still on bad terms, decided to be friends, and with time they became rather close, though both of them had sworn a pact on never dating again because of how better off they were as friends. 

"Amazing!" Christine exclaimed, and then continued to go on about how cool it is to be in the city where some of the most amazing plays were put on. Suddenly, she cut herself off abruptly, "Wait a second! What's that smell?" The four boys turned their heads to the kitchen, where the mac n cheese, where smoke was crowding the pot. 

"Fuck!" Michael ran for the pot, turning the stove off while Jeremy grabbed the pot with oven mitts and threw it in the sink. Jake tried to fan the smoke away from the smoke alarm they had already set off three times this year. Rich followed a bit farther behind with Christine, not really wanting to get close to the smoke.

A few minutes later, the problem had been solved, though there was nothing salvageable from the burnt mac n cheese. So, the group headed out to a diner down the street that Jeremy and Jake frequented for lunch instead of attempting to make a new batch. When they arrived, a waiter approached and led them to a table, one that Jake and Jeremy both recognized and had a small conversation with before ordering drinks and looking down to decide what they wanted.

"What do you guys usually get?" Christine asked, looking over the menu, and then looking over at Michael, who was looking at the waffles rather intently.

"I get the Belgium waffles, Jere will probably be getting strawberry pancakes," Jake said, and Jeremy nodded in confirmation. Rich pointed to the steak omelet, turning his menu towards Jake, who sat to the right of him. Jeremy was on the right of jake, and across from them sat Michael and Christine, who were discussing which pancakes would be the best.

"Wait, for the-" Whatever Michael was going to ask was cut off when something crashed into the ground, the sound of glass shattering echoing throughout the diner. The five of them looked to where a waitress was cursing softly, grabbing a wet towel and trying to clean up the desk from where it was right in the middle of the walkway between the two sides of the diner. 

"Sorry! Sorry," A girl said, leaning over to help the waitress. It seemed as though she had walked in and bumped into the employee, knocking everything to the ground. Though, as they watched the two girls clean up the mess, Jeremy tapped Jake's arm,

"Is that... Chloe?" Jeremy asked, and Jake gulped before the girl turned to face them, grinning and pushing her hair behind her ear. Had it not been for her signature smile, they wouldn't have recognized her. She was far tanner, and her hair was lighter than before. 

"There you guys are! I kinda only knew the dorm house you guys were in, so it took me a while to figure out where exactly you were, especially since I lost everyone's number when I dropped my phone off a waterfall-" Before she could really explain herself, Christine flew out of her seat and she hugged Chloe, the others following excitably

"How many more of you kids are gonna be coming back to New Jersey?" Jake commented, smiling. "Yesterday we get Rich and Michael, and now we have Christine and Chlo? It's like high school all over again."

They all sat back down after having a laugh with the waitress and after Chloe promised to pay for the things she broke. 

"Okay, so, losers, I was thinking we could visit the old school," Chloe begins, already deciding that she would get ice cream. "you know, the old elementary school they were gonna tore down but decided not to?"

"We broke into that place back in junior year, Chlo." Rich states, choosing the steak and chicken omelet. The others also make their decision, Jeremy and Jake getting their classic meal, Michael getting the banana waffles, and Christine getting the rainbow sprinkle pancakes.

"Yeah but I heard it's even more creepy than it was two years ago, and I only have today, tomorrow, and then I leave Monday night," Chloe explained, smirking over her root beer. "Plus, this could be the last time we're all together, well, most of us, for a while." She paused for a moment thinking about how several people were too busy to stop by. "So let's do something fun!" As they discussed whether it was a good idea or not, Jeremy rather against it as well as Christine, the food came out, and the talking mostly ceased when everyone began eating.

When they arrived back at the small dorm, they decided to play monopoly, which took up a good couple of hours of everyone's time. In the end, Michael and Chloe were the only ones not bankrupt, though Chloe had a bit more money and a property or two more than Michael in the end, and was dictated the winner. And by their rules, the winner was allowed bragging rights for the next hour. So Chloe proudly upheld that she had beat not only Michael Mell, but also Jake Dillinger, at Monopoly, and she hadn't played it in years.

By the time the sun had gone down, the six of them ended up outside the old elementary school that only a few of them went to. Jake, Christine, and Jeremy all attended, while the others went to the one on the other side of town. A few years after the three of them graduated onto middle school, the town stopped its funding for it because there were already enough elementary schools in the district, and it was one story, a truly shitty building that even the teachers wanted to burn down.

Chloe was ecstatic. The others, well, they would rather be home finishing their High School Musical marathon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u liked it.... ill prob fix it sometime tm, i kinda just wanna get it out there before i forget n never update.

**Author's Note:**

> how was it???????????????? let me know if ya liked it!! i'll hopefully keep up with it n get it finished at some point..


End file.
